Comp Pics 2002
Here we are waiting to go to the start paddock at Curborough, Aug 2002. That's HelenW's ZR160 (DavidC won a class at Harewood with it earlier in the year, blagging a loan by pretending he had a problem with his Midget; rumour is that the ZR160's engine and tyres were still warm 3 days afterwards); and that is DC's immaculate 1380 Midget next, followed by Russ' KMidget, (another Midget), (what's that?!), BRB and then Sean's 1275 Midget on its 2nd event. I won the RGS <2l, but Russ won FTD! You should know that DC's Midget is so tidy, you can clean your overalls merely by brushing past it.
Here are the 3K's at Silverstone 2002 (Tam's, BRB, and Russ') - hurrah!
Sean the fireman had his first event at 'Stone; we were amazed when he (eventually) passed scrute, 'cos he clearly hadn't read the regs (lots of last-minute fixing things down; about 4 yards of security fencing near Beckets were needed for this); the car looked Ok with the bonnet fitted, though:
Here's BRB at Gurston, June 2002, being given some wallop just after Carousel; check out how much the body moves sideways on the rear springs; made a Panhard rod with Paul very soon afterwards. (How useful are other MGs to Midget owners? Well MGFs can give us their engines, and MGBs are good for a steering-rack derived Panhard and bigger front disks/callipers - they certainly are valuable to us Midgeteers; so please keep them oiled and greased until we can get our hands on them for spares, chaps):
Here's a pic from Prescott, 2002; no - not one of my class winning run (despite an overwhelming and heartwarming number of requests), but one of Stephen Spinner-Holford polishing his mount; and that's Mike Heath behind (orange overalls 1/2 way down), and he'd been polishing his MG Metro all day too; what IS going on?? They'll be polishing their tyres next, like the single seater boys and girls. (Mind you, rumours are that DC does this already!). I spent all day fixing an oil leak in the block adaptor for the remote filter (but that's a whole website in itself). Looking past Stephen for a mo, isn't the Prescott paddock wonderful:
OK, so here is BRB in the middle of its all day struggle against escaping oil - rad, alternator etc removed for access (I must say the Prescott officials were wonderful about this, helping me out and delaying my practice to around 4:30 on the Sat; hats off to those chaps; and my fellow competitors were their usual extremely helpful & humourous selves, too!):
Wiscombe Park is a great venue, especially on a sunny day; here are two general paddock views, of the old and even older (MGs); most noticeable is the flying banana CGT of Chris Cooper (triple Weber straight 6 engine - awesome, but stressful on gearboxes) - despite appearances, no bananas were harmed in the construction and modification of this car. BRB is hiding for a change!:
What a great day at Eelmore, Sep 02; James (in the Tam-Kmidget) pipped Russ for the class, after Russ stripped his diff; and I improved 2 secs on my last run to beat Tam (*possibly* because my last run wasn't timed for some reason, and I was given an immediate last run with tyres still hot; or maybe just my amazing driving skill unleashing itself for a change; ok it was the hot tyres). Three KMidgets sandwiched between Philip Methuen's B and James' Audi; Tam is clearly dazzled by the bare ally finish on my bonnet:
I've enough pics of Russ/kackered diffs to open a gallery; here's but one at Eelmore in which Russ is looking unnaturally pleased to have trashed diff number 3. (Stock market tip? Invest in any company that has substantial holdings of 4.2 and 3.9 rear axles e.g. kimdear.com well positioned to lead us out of the recession; you read it here). Back on topic - Russ' diff is now held in by a couple of quick release jubilee clips and a blue cable-tie, ready for the next episode:
